Conservative Dominance in British Politics There are many different factors which contributed to the Conservative dominance of the period between 1885 and 1905. For one, the electoral reform of Gladstone's second ministry had a large effect on the Conservatives period in office as did the skill of Salisbury as a leader. The role that the government took in terms of its policies and foreign policy, and the nature of support for the party also played important roles in the conservative dominance. This is because the Conservatives lost working class support during its ministry, yet still managed to dominate politics for nearly twenty years. However, it can be suggested that due to the split in the liberals and the weaknesses the party, that conservative dominance was more to do with Liberal weaknesses than conservative strengths. One of the key reasons the Conservatives were so successful was because of Salisbury's leadership skills. This was demonstrated when he managed to persuade Gladstone that he would (as head of house of Lords) pass the reform act in return for the Redistribution of Seats Act. Salisbury knew that the reform act was inevitable, so he used his political skills to negotiate the redistribution of seats act in return for the reform act. This ultimately benefited the conservatives as they won the next election; however, it was a mixture of Gladstone's weakness to deal with his opposition, as apposed to just Salisbury's leadership skills. His skills were also evident and beneficial in the Redistribution of Seats bill as it weakened the Whig element of the Liberals, and seeing as the Whigs joined the Conservatives when the Liberals split, strengthened the Conservatives. Another aspect of this redistribution act which showed Salisbury's strengths and leadership qualities was how it would mean the Conservatives would gain the support of the Middle Class. This shows Liberals weakness and the Conservatives strengths leading to the party's dominance. It can be argued therefore that the source is correct in saying that the reason the Conservatives were so dominant in British politics is because of Conservative strengths i.
It could be argued that Gladstone’s failure to unite his party, during a time when their ultimate support and confidence in his leadership was crucial, was a significant tactical error that contributed heavily towards the failure of the 1886 Home Rule Bill. The results of the 1885 general election were to have a significant impact on the political landscape of Britain; despite winning the most seats, the Liberals did not have an overall majority.As Parnell and the Irish Parliamentry Party (IPP) held the balance...
It must be considered when viewing the achievements of Labour that in 1924, the Labour government was not in a position to push ahead with radical policies, as a minority in the house of commons a Conservative vote and abstinence of a liberal support would have brought the government down. A heavy reliance on the liberals existed in the first labour government which some argue restricted them heavily, policies such as nationalisation and disarmament had no chance of being implemented. Also due to its reliance on the Liberals its relationship with trade unions was damaged as they felt they were not being represented as well as promised. To labour this was a large problem as trade unions provided most of their funds, however to be too sympathetic to the unions would make it difficult to project an image of their party as genuinely national. Labour theorised that a gradual series of changes would be more beneficial to their aims, and using their rise to power in 24 as foundation stone to prove their capability in government, their socialist views were still present, however were a realistic take on Labours ability to bring change to Britain, which was at this point vastly limited.
In the year 1832, the time of the Great Reform Bill, the name ‘conservative party’ became the official name of the party. Conservative leaders like Robert Peel and Benjamin Disraeli did not refuse all changes because they knew that change was good for progress. The post war consensus was between the year 1945-1979 and it was established immediately after the year 1945 by Attlee (Labour party). The conservatives were in power for 17 years out of the 34 years under the leadership of Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas ...
who had been seen by many Tories as a future leader of the party lost
In recent times the in the UK we have seen the more frequent use of
Since the 1911 election, the country had been governed by the Conservatives, first under the leadership of Robert Borden, and then under Arthur Meighen.
The Liberal victory in General Election of 1906 has gone down in History for being one of the biggest landslides in modern UK politics, but it can be argued that it was more of a Conservative loss than a Liberal gain.
Throughout the article, Brown says his evidence points to a conservative by stating, “British imperial policies, designed to benefit the Mother Country, had long been ineffective because they could not be enforced, and one of the main reasons for the failure of enforcement was the action of democratic assemblies in the colonies.” (pg. 19) Due to the failing of the enforcement and fear that the colonies had the potential to possibly outgrow the need for Britain, and in attempt to stall their potential independence Britain attempted to reform the colonies after
The Conservatives' Record in Government and Their Likeliness to Lose the General Election in 1906
The Success of the First Two Labour Governments was Outweighed by the Failures in Britain The success of Labour's governments during its two terms in power, in the 1920's easily outweighed its failures and shortcomings, in Britain. This was a Labour government that introduced the idea of free mass secondary education, built over half a million houses, and through Labour established Britain as a major player in European and World politics. The Labour government were in power at the time of the Great Depression, and their failure to address the serious economic crisis bought about as a result of an economic downturn, following the short boom after the war, may be seen as a severe weakness in the second government. However, these flaws may be seen as a small aspect of the overall policy of the Labour government, and cannot out-way the long-term success of their social and political policy plans.
in their accounts of power in the US and the UK, but that mainly they
This essay will address whether New Labour contained policies with which it wished to pursue, or was solely developed in order to win elections. It is important to realise whether a political party that held office for approximately 13 years only possessed the goal of winning elections, or promoted policies which it wished to pursue. If a party that held no substance was governing for 13 years, it would be unfair to the people. New Labour was designed to win elections, but still contained policies which it wished to pursue. To adequately defend this thesis, one must look at the re-branding steps taken by New Labour and the new policies the party was going to pursue. Through analysis, it will be shown that New Labour promoted policies in regards
Between 1964 1974 conservatives party was not success in elections, they lost four election out of five and three of them lose came under the leadership of Edward Heath. Margaret Thatcher succeeded, and replaced Heath in (1975). Margaret Thatcher became the prime Minster leading the Conservative Govt. Below shows t the results of Thatcher Govt majority of seats won on the following terms
The US has a two party system in which two parties dominate in the US